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The Rushden Legacy
To parry an unwanted proposal, Lady Diana Bellrose falsely claims that she is engaged to Viscount Rushden, scion of a family in which no previous Baron Rushden has survived his thirtieth birthday.
170 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 18, 2022
The blurb about the book does not do it justice. Yes, the main romance part of the story has to do with Lady Diana lying about being engaged to Baron Rushden, who is her friend's brother, but it's so much more than that. In its heart, it's a story about family and close bonds and that was what I loved about the book. What's supposed to be the main romance and the female protagonist are what kept this book to four stars for me. I couldn't figure out why they fell in love and found Lady Diana spoiled and immature. Their relationship feels a bit more like a farce whereas the rest of the book has more soul (not to wax poetic). I read it a while back but, if I remember correctly, the bulk of the first third of the book is about Rushden and his family (his mother and sisters). He is a soldier returning home with his fellow soldier and friend, Viscount Hulme. He basically lives his life to the fullest because he's twenty-nine years and two months and all previous Barons died before reaching the age of 30. His decision-making process is based on the fact that he's sure he's going to die. It sounds a bit like a silly plot device but he has a point when you learn about the family history.
Most of the story is set in his country home as we observe the interactions between characters. Rushden has a lovely relationship with all members of his family but, in particular, with his sister Anne and his mother. There are two secondary romances involving his sisters that could have been their own book. In fact, this is one of those books that you wished the author had turned into a series so secondary characters and stories could have been developed better. The book is also on the short side, and I could have read dozens more pages about the Rushdens.
There's a really lovely passage describing what Baron Rushden has learned from the women in his family (mother and six sisters), which reflects what made the story resonate with me. This is the paragraph about one of his sisters, "Elizabeth was the quietest of the girls, the most studious, and the one Roger understood only sketchily. Her mysteries intrigued him, and from her he had learned to listen to what a woman had to say in order to discover her true character, which might be hidden beneath layers of deceptively calm manners. He had made the mistake once of assuming Elizabeth's feelings to be less strong than those of the rest of their outspoken family, and the hurt he had caused her then was something he never wished to repeat with any woman."
I tried finding other Regency romances written by the author but there were none. If you enjoyed the family relations in this book more than the romance, as I did, I highly recommend A Detestable Name by Arabella Brown. The romance in that book is very much secondary and the heart of the book is the familial relations. The style is very different from The Rushden Legacy and might not be to everyone's taste, but it has a lot of heart as well as similarities such as military men retuning home to their mother and sisters (though the welcome he receives is quite different).
Most of the story is set in his country home as we observe the interactions between characters. Rushden has a lovely relationship with all members of his family but, in particular, with his sister Anne and his mother. There are two secondary romances involving his sisters that could have been their own book. In fact, this is one of those books that you wished the author had turned into a series so secondary characters and stories could have been developed better. The book is also on the short side, and I could have read dozens more pages about the Rushdens.
There's a really lovely passage describing what Baron Rushden has learned from the women in his family (mother and six sisters), which reflects what made the story resonate with me. This is the paragraph about one of his sisters, "Elizabeth was the quietest of the girls, the most studious, and the one Roger understood only sketchily. Her mysteries intrigued him, and from her he had learned to listen to what a woman had to say in order to discover her true character, which might be hidden beneath layers of deceptively calm manners. He had made the mistake once of assuming Elizabeth's feelings to be less strong than those of the rest of their outspoken family, and the hurt he had caused her then was something he never wished to repeat with any woman."
I tried finding other Regency romances written by the author but there were none. If you enjoyed the family relations in this book more than the romance, as I did, I highly recommend A Detestable Name by Arabella Brown. The romance in that book is very much secondary and the heart of the book is the familial relations. The style is very different from The Rushden Legacy and might not be to everyone's taste, but it has a lot of heart as well as similarities such as military men retuning home to their mother and sisters (though the welcome he receives is quite different).
June 2, 2011
A romance?!? Well, yes, but it's Melanie so there are no heaving breasts or moody moors. Intelligent people working within societal strictures. Fun.
Read
February 21, 2012The Rushden Legacy by Melanie Rawn (1985)
Want to Read
September 30, 2011Okaaaaaay, let's see if I can actually find a copy of this. :P
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews